Women Managers in American Popular Culture

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-97275-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 176 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Advances in Film Studies

This book explores various portrayals of women managers in American culture from the late 1960s to the present.

 

An analysis of iconic films and works of fiction and nonfiction reveals how the image of the woman manager has evolved over time, reflecting shifting societal attitudes. In early depictions, she is an extreme outlier: her life revolves entirely around work, she rejects family life, and she is often hypersexualized. In the 1980s, a decade marked by the rise of feminist ideals, she emerges as a realistic character, grappling with challenges that still impact women in management today. Yet this progression was short-lived. At the close of the 20th century and into the early 21st century, chauvinistic tropes resurfaced, once again casting her in a negative light. Contemporary portrayals of the female executive position her as part of a rapidly shifting social landscape. She is but one element in an emerging social construct.

 

The study of the woman manager is pertinent to the humanities and the social sciences, bridging these disciplines. This interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to scholars and students in cultural studies, gender studies, American studies, and cinema studies, as well as those in economics, management, and business schools.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rubinstein, Emanuela Barasch

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Filmgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 

I. Inventing a Woman Manager

1. A Hypothetical Woman Manager: Atlas Shrugged, 1957

2. A Masculine Woman Manager: Network, 1976

II. A Real-Life Woman Manager

3. A Mother and a Manager: Baby Boom, 1987

4. Climbing the Social Ladder: Working Girl, 1988

III. The Setback: A Negative Portrayal of Women Managers

5. The Manipulative Woman Manager: Disclosure, 1994

6. A Vicious Woman Manager: The Devil Wears Prada, 2006

IV. A Woman Manager in a Changing World

7. New Gender Roles: The Intern, 2015

8. The Price of Success: Lean In, 2013

Conclusion     

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Emanuela Barasch Rubinstein is a scholar and author of fiction, who explores history through a cultural lens. Her other academic books examine Nazism and the Holocaust within the framework of German culture and Christianity. Her works of fiction—Five Selves, Delivery, and Intimate Solitude—center around themes of selfhood and gender roles across various historical settings.